Prevalence and risk factors of Giardia spp. from free living and owned dogs in Tunja-Boyacá, Colombia

Giardia spp. is a zoonotic protozoan that causes acute gastroenteritis in humans and other animal species across the world. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Giardia spp. in free living and owned dogs from Tunja - Colombia by Ritchie concentration method and to identify the risk factors (living condition, age, sex, stool consistency, body condition and hair condition) associated with infection. To address the objective a cross-sectional study was carried out. The study population consisted of 200 dogs. Faecal samples were collected from 100 stray dogs and 100 owned dogs using a convenient sampling method. Risk factors were analysed by logistic regression analysis. Risk was expressed as an odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval. Descriptive epidemiology and risk factors were performed using EpiInfo software. A P value of